WASHINGTON, D.C. — The bus wasn’t painted with flowers, and they didn’t bring beads. They brought their chemistry homework.

A majority of the 44 seats in bus number two from Ames were filled by ISU students, many of them members of the student organization Time For Peace. They didn’t all know each other when the journey began, but they knew they shared a common belief — “No war on Iraq.”

The two buses that left Ames Friday afternoon were organized by Marcia Brink of Ames. Brink said it was a trip to a Washington, D.C., rally for peace in October that gave her the idea. Each seat cost $125 and about 20 students received financial assistance toward the cost.

John Brink of Sioux City contributed to the scholarship pool.

“I just thought it was the right thing to do. It’s difficult for students to come up with $125 and I’m in a position to help a little,” he said.

Several supporters who were unable to go to Washington contributed to the fund. Others were there to help send off the bus.

Beverly Reddick, an Ames resident, was one of the supporters. Because she was unable to travel to Washington, she sent cookies along with bus riders and said “my spirit is on the bus.” Many others who were unable to travel sent buttons or necklaces so their spirits could be present at the rally and march.

As the Ames buses pulled into an Iowa City parking lot to join another bus, the voice of a female ISU student chirped, “Are we going to have a rally here too?”

“Well, we can,” piped back Cary Vigneri, a saleswoman and one of five bus riders from Omaha. That was the shared attitude of young and old as the three full buses left Iowa City for the peace rally and march that awaited 15 hours away.

As Washington, D.C. got closer, excitement grew and C-SPAN radio began to tell the ralliers of what awaited them.

Ellen Daly, sophomore in environmental studies and women’s studies, passed around a sign she had made. One side read, “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” The other side read, “We will persist for peace.” She wanted each of the bus riders to trace his or her hand on the sign. Each of the riders did, as Jimi Hendrix’s rendition of the Star Spangled Banner filled the bus from a portable stereo in the back.

“I feel like activism is one of the most empowering things American citizens can do,” Daly said.

As busloads of peace supporters arrived in front of the Capitol, one of the International Act Now to Stop War and End Racism organizers told the crowd, “They said it was going to be cold, but I can’t see the end of this crowd. This is what democracy looks like.”

After the rally and march, each of the bus riders had a different experience to share, which many did on the 19-hour return trip.